Leblanc, who was drafted 18th overall, was sent to the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs following Monday’s 6-3 preseason loss to the Boston Bruins.

“He came into camp with a good attitude and he was in better shape, but we know Louis Leblanc and we wanted to get to know some of the other players better,” Therrien said.

Therrien mentioned Christian Thomas, who was acquired from the New York Rangers in the off-season, and Swede Sebastien Collberg, who will be heading back to Sweden if he doesn’t make it in the NHL.

Neither player was part of the main group at practice Wednesday as Therrien and his staff concentrated on the players who are expected to be on the roster on opening night against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 1 at the Bell Centre. But the coach said Thomas and Collberg will see some action this weekend as the Canadians play three preseason games in four nights, beginning Friday with a game against the Carolina Hurricanes in Quebec City.

435 Comments

@thebonscott: if McCarron becomes an NHL regular, that’s good for a late first rounder. If he becomes a 10-15 goal guy who does the other things you mention, we should all be very happy with that. Anything more and he’s a steal, an absolutely brilliant pick. It’s hard to score 20 goals these days.

In picking my favourite new Hab I followed some guidelines:
A) I interpreted “new” to mean completely new, and an actual Hab, not a prospect. So I was picking between Parros, Murray, and Briere. I don’t like Briere. I don’t mind Parros but I don’t see him playing a big role.

B) You said we HAD to pick, ha. I wouldn’t have picked anyone otherwise.

I think Murray is a great replacement for Emelin until we have Emelin back. Someone needs to guard the net.

I think I’d be willing to participate if my company instituted Dynamic Stretching every morning prior to the work day starting. Granted, it would require the same instructors as the Habs use, thus preventing any blockages. 🙂

Still concerned that the Habs are lacking in forwards that can improve the pk from last year…If PK plays more pk and along with Murray maybe that helps….But not sold that beyond Plecks any of the other forwards can bring the pk into a top 10 position…The type of pk the team plays probably because of the personal they have is going to give up goals regularly….

Hey fellow HIOers — we’re still looking for a few more GMs for our new keeper league that we’re starting up on the CBS fantasy site this season. You can check out our forum page here: http://cascadia.makeforum.ca/ Our league constitution is down toward the bottom of the page. The inaugural draft is this Sunday, the 22nd at 7:30pm PST, so East coasters will have to pretend it’s like the Habs are on a western road trip (think of it like preseason training). Cheers, Charles (charlespace123@gmail.com)

on the downside, say if mcarron develops into a guy who scores 12 goals a year, wins puck battles along the boards consistently. sticks up for his teammates, delivers thunderous checks, and intimidates d-men. Would you be disappointed??

Bergeron is literally one of great players, and one of the great comebacks in the league. A few years back I was discussing with a poster who was the better player, I had Bergeron he had Plekanec. Today, Plekanec is still Plekanec, and Bergeron is elite.

I think he’s a 20 goal guy, no question. He is immovable, has great reach and knows where the back of the net is.
He creates space for his linemates which lets them fire with him around to tip it or pounce on the scraps.

Like I said below – after seeing him “I’m a believer” in him and in the pick the Habs made.

Really skilled players don’t have a lot of trouble reaching 20 most seasons. And we’re talking about a first rounder, not some depth guy (and obviously what he’ll reach, not what he could do today).

From what I’ve seen he’s quite skilled and then with an attribute in his size and reach that ads to the package. He has good hands, good smarts, and is fearless. Gallagher’s turned that into good success already, I see no reason McCarron won’t.

Markov should take a discount…and his partner can pay him part of his salary out of his. IT is a win-win-win….partner will have bigger payday down the road, Markov gets more money and the Habs have a lower cap hit!

I have a feeling that a day to day injury in the pre-season has a bit of a different definition than a day to day during the regular season. They are probably resting Bouillon and Murray to make sure they are as healthy as possible for the first game. I don’t think that the veterans have as much will to play through the pain at this stage of the calendar.

Markov has several good years left in him. He is one of the best PP quarterbacks in the league, if not the best. Subban doesn’t win the Norris without him in the lineup. With parity in the league, your special teams become really important, having a guy like Markov almost guarantees a potent PP. I hope they can keep him.

The only reason to let him walk would be for cap reasons. But I would move Gorges before letting Markov go for cap reasons.

Here’s hoping Markov takes a discount, maybe on shorter deals.
He’s a key part of the Habs D-corps, and it showed in the years he was injured. He’s also a great mentor for Subban, both can play a very smart game.
I’m also glad to have him there, he can definitely be a source of inspiration and help counselling Emelin who is rehabbing the same injury Markov had.

It does. We have seen guys like Dan Cleary and Chris Phillips take home town discounts. But a guy like Alfredsson walked even though his kids grew up in Ottawa and it literally was home for them. I think it becomes about pride/respect rather than the money. The offer has to be in the ball park of market value.

@ Ghots of the Forum – I agree with you to a certain extent. When Emelin returns, send Diaz to the press box or whatever box is available high in the rafters!

Throw Tinordi and Emelin out on the 2nd PP. Tinordi can probably hold the line better than Diaz anyway and has shown that he can stick handle well through the neutral zone as well. He’s not some stone handed goon! Plus subban stays out there for the entire duration half the time anyway!!!!

I’d probably have Murray in the lineup instead of Pateryn.

Next year Markov and Diaz will be gone so we’ll have room for Beaulieu and Pateryn.

Diaz/Markov were dynamite on the PP last year at the outset and I think there’s an argument to keep the Swiss out there. I think Emelin is a natural choice, he’s shown some decent offensive skills, but whoever it is, I’d be looking for Diaz to shoot and have someone setting him up.

Agree….anyone who can shoot and is paired with Markov on a pp will be dynamite…Markov opens seams up, his ridiculously smart and when he makes a pass it always in the wheelhouse. It is too bad Markov has aged and he can’t be the one staying on for the duration of the pp…that is what would make it really lethal on both waves. Diaz though is the next best pp guy and if Subban goes down he is the man that will be relied on heavily. Everyone worries about Markov…rSubban has escaped injury so far but he plays a pretty rough and tumble game …at some point he too may be injured…if that happened…even Markov can’t make one of the others a pp guy. Only Diaz has that ability. Too much is mad eof him occasionally losing a puck battle.
Komsiarek, Souray, Steit, MAB, O’Byrne…just some of the guys who Markov made look better than they were at times. Not sure how much MAB played with him cut those are guys I associate witht he Markov effect.

You just gave one rookie top-two minutes, two rookies top-four minutes, and destroyed the power-play. Do you think your evaluation of the readiness of Tinordi and Pateryn is realistic? They played easy minutes last year.

I agree, and I would rather see Boullion or Murray kept as the 7th Dman. I didn’t like seeing Weber sit when he was still only 21 and 22. I would have rather he played in Hamilton than get 0 ice time for the Habs. I think keeping Pateryn and Tinordi in that situation will harm their potential.

Tinordi is not going to be a top pairing guy at any point in his career. That’s not his game. He doesn’t have the puck moving skills and while he is a decent skater, he isn’t going to dazzle anyone with his speed. He is a defence first player that fortunately has the size to be a physically imposing force. He has other intangibles too that make him intriguing but he is not a top pairing defenceman.

Oh come on Matty, these are more great reasons to dislike Habs players. How dare some guy who has learned English as his second language not come off more like pretty boy Lupul or Kadri. Lets get rid of Markov before he turns all those teammates into crusty people who play the game at an all star level!

The best interview I ever saw him give was when he was coming back from his knee injury and the press was tagging along. He visited the locker room and PK had his gear strewn across Markov’s space. Markov hadn’t even looked at the room for months but he suddenly turned to PK and said words to the effect “Is that your __.” PK smiled. Markov deadpanned and said words to the effect “Get it out of there now.” PK did.

From what I understand, he is a very shy person who prefers to keep hi s personal life private. That being said, he always seems to be there for interviews and even took part in that series a few years back where they followed him around for a day.